Hydrangea Pruning Chart
Every common hydrangea on one page: what it flowers on, when to cut it, and the one cut to skip.
Hydrangea pruning chart for Canadian gardens, on one page. Find your type in the first column and read across: the month, the cut, and the mistake to skip.
Everything on it comes down to one question, which the University of Illinois puts plainly: does the plant flower on old wood or on new wood? New-wood types are pruned in late winter or early spring. Old-wood types are pruned right after they flower, because their buds for next year start forming in August and September.
The short version: Panicle and smooth hydrangeas flower on new wood: prune in late winter or early spring. Bigleaf, oakleaf, mountain and climbing hydrangeas flower on old wood: prune right after flowering, before August, and in spring remove only dead wood. Rebloomers such as Endless Summer: spring, lightly.
The Chart
| Type | Flowers on | When to prune | How | Avoid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panicle Limelight, Quick Fire, Bobo, Pee Gee, tree forms | New wood | Late winter or early spring (fall is allowed) | Cut to just above a fat bud; thin weak stems; renew an old shrub a third at a time | Cutting it to the ground every year |
| Smooth Annabelle, Incrediball, Invincibelle | New wood | Late winter or early spring | To the ground, or to a low framework for sturdier stems | A hard cut in its first season or two |
| Bigleaf mophead, lacecap | Old wood | Shape right after flowering, before August; spring: dead wood only | Cut back to the first live buds; take out the oldest stems at the base | Fall pruning; spring cuts before the leaves show |
| Reblooming bigleaf Endless Summer, Let’s Dance, Tuff Stuff | Old and new wood | Spring, once new growth shows | Dead tips back to live buds; deadhead in summer | A hard fall cut |
| Oakleaf | Old wood | Right after flowering, by about August 1; spring: dead wood only | Take a few old stems out at the base | Shaping in spring |
| Mountain H. serrata | Old wood | Once new growth shows in spring | Remove only stems with no live buds | Cutting before you can see live buds |
| Climbing | Old wood | Shortly after flowering, if at all | Remove dead wood; shorten long side branches | Heavy pruning |
From the University of Minnesota, University of Massachusetts, University of New Hampshire, University of Illinois and N.C. State extension guides. growersguide.ca/blog/hydrangea-pruning-chart
Not Sure Which One You Have?
Look at the flower and the time it opens. Cone-shaped heads that open in mid to late summer are almost always panicle. Big white domes in early summer, on stems that die back over winter, are smooth. Blue or pink mopheads and flat lacecaps are bigleaf. Leaves shaped like an oak’s are oakleaf. A vine clinging to a wall or tree is climbing hydrangea. When in doubt, leave it unpruned for a year and watch where it flowers.
When Late Winter Arrives Where You Live
General guidance: late winter means different months across Canada. On the south coast of British Columbia, new-wood hydrangeas can often be pruned in February or March. In southern Ontario and southern Quebec, March or April. On the Prairies and in much of Atlantic Canada, April is more usual. The test that works anywhere: prune before the buds open, once the deep cold is over.
The Detail Behind Each Row
- Panicle hydrangeas: How to Prune Limelight Hydrangea and, for a single-trunk plant, Hydrangea Tree Pruning and Care.
- Smooth hydrangeas: Pruning Annabelle and Incrediball.
- Reblooming bigleaf: How to Prune Endless Summer.
- Oakleaf: Oakleaf Hydrangea in Canada.
- Everything about fall pruning and winter cover: Hydrangea Winter Care in Canada.
- The full explanation of old and new wood: How to Prune Hydrangeas in Canada.
Clean cuts close faster than torn ones. The shears handle thin stems; the loppers take the thicker wood.
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Frequently Asked Questions
When do you prune hydrangeas in Canada?
Panicle and smooth hydrangeas in late winter or early spring. Bigleaf, oakleaf, mountain and climbing hydrangeas right after they flower and before August, with only dead wood removed in spring. Reblooming bigleaf types such as Endless Summer in spring, lightly.
Which hydrangeas should not be pruned in fall?
Bigleaf, reblooming bigleaf, oakleaf, mountain and climbing hydrangeas, because their flower buds for next year are already on the stems. Panicle and smooth hydrangeas can be cut in fall without losing flowers, though most gardeners wait for spring.
Which hydrangeas can be cut to the ground?
Smooth hydrangeas such as Annabelle and Incrediball. Panicle hydrangeas will survive it, but repeating a drastic cut every year can weaken them.
Can I print the hydrangea pruning chart?
Yes. Use the print button above the chart, or your browser's print command; the menus and ads are left off the printout.
Sources
- University of Illinois Extension — For showy blooms, pruning hydrangeas is all about the timing
- University of Minnesota Extension — Pruning hydrangeas for best bloom
- University of Massachusetts Amherst Extension — Growing Hydrangeas
- University of New Hampshire Extension — Pruning Hydrangeas
- N.C. State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox — Hydrangea quercifolia
- Canadian zones and frost dates: this site’s city data, from Natural Resources Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada.